Railway car truck



Oct. 31, 1933. J. J. TATUM RAILWAY CAR TRUCK Filed NOV. 4, 1950 5Sheets-Sheet l .i 7 QR 1 1H 1 H i lmfii mm; 4 & v

Oct. 31, 1933. J, TATUM 1,933,459

RAILWAY CAR TRUCK Filed Nov. 4, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 0a. 31, 1933. J.J. TATUM 1,933,459

RAILWAY CAR TRUCK Filed NOV. 4, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Zlwuentoz dunno/11Patented Oct. 31, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT- orries,j

RAILWAY CAR. TRUCK John J. Tatum, Baltimore, Md. Application November4;, 1930'. j Serial No} 493,426

' 10 Claims. (01.105-218) This'invention relates to the trucks ofrailway cars, particularly passenger cars.

Passenger car trucks, as nowcommonly constructed, are provided withpositively guided journal boxes, each journal box being mounted in. apedestal so as to be guided in position and in its movements by flangeson its sides engaging the pedestal legs, as a result of whichthe'journal the pedestal happens to be attached to the truck.

This often throws the load carried by the truck on the back end of thejournal bearing in the box, or on the front end, resulting in a smallbearing area of the journalbearing being overloaded to such an extentthat binding between the journal bearing and the journaloccurs and oilis prevented from flowing betweenthe bearing and journal for thelubricationof the bearing surfaces- Accordingly, what is known as a hotjournal occurs, whereby the journal is damaged or burnt off.Furthermore, the guides onth'e sides of the journal box'rub hard againstthe pedestal legs'a'nd prevent free movement of the box between thepedestal legs brought about'by the action of the cushioning springs,resulting in hard or rough riding cars. In passenger cars I tively onthelines 6- -6, 7+7- and 8- 8 of. Fig. 1

of usual construction, the brake beams are mounted upon hangers carriedby the truck frame, which mode of mounting does not allow adjustment ofthe brake shoes to accommodate themselves to changes of position of thewheels, f and th'e hanger suspension often interferes with a properrelease of the brake shoe. Hence there is an objectionable amount ofwheel flangeand track friction and resistance to travel caused becauseof the inability, due to's uch friction and.

to freeze or adhere togethenthus preventing free.

swinging of the truck on curves and frequently causing derailments, aswellgashard grinding'of the wheel flanges against. the railroad track,quickly wearing both track and flange to de structive limits and makingthem unsafe for use and requiring their removal. and replacement at,very, great expense. h The primary object of myrinvention isto provide afloating journaLbox, which is free to. move I in .theipedestal withinvsafe limits. iwitho'ut re striction, thus allowing the boxto..automatically adjust. itself to. prevent. bindingiof the box or.journal and the deleterious "actions, resulting therefrom. I

A- further object. of. my invention is to provide means which, whileallowingthe journalbox and truck side frame in which it is mounted. tohave relativefloating movements,.will prevent relative displacement ofthese parts.

With these and other objects in view, the in vention consists of thefeatures. of construction, combination and arrangement of parts.hereinafterfully. described and 'claimed,..reference being had to the.accompanying" drawings, in-

Fig. 1 is a side.elevation, .partlyin section. of a portion of a truck.frame. and.--a ..journal box I structureembodying 'myinventiom Y Fig. 2isa .sectionalfplanlview of .Dartsshown i Fi -l- Y Fig. 3 isaverticallongitudinal section through the journal box shown in Figs. 1and 2.

Fig. 4 is a viewsimilarutmFig. 2,. showing a modified form of journalboxlstr'ucture.

Fig. 5 is a section similar to Fig.3 of the jour-f nal box shownin Fig.1.. I I

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are cross-sections takenrespec- I FigfQlis a top planview of .a portion of a bot-e; tom of a car body, showing in -dottedlines apart of a center bearing for a truck frame .andme'ans forlubricatingthe same. Fig. 10. is a sectional viewthrough thecarbottomand a part of. the centerbearingv of the truck, taken along the lineofthe lubricant feed pipe, .and showing more'clearly thelubricating 'tion,1 is a side frame member of the-truck frame of a railwaypassenger carprovided with the pedestal 2 having thejawsor-legs 3 which may.beprovided on their inner faces with wear plates 4. In the pedestal 2between-the legs 3'is arlegs, being of a width somewhat'les's than theranged a floatingnjournal box 5. This journal I box is devoid of theusualguideflanges or other guiding connections at, its sideswiththeflpedestal distance between the wear plates 4 of the legs and fittedto slide with freedom between the legs, so that it may accommodateitself to irregularities in the position of the pedestal and toirregularities in the journal at one and the same time. If, therefore,the pedestal deviates either inwardly or outwardly from a plumb orvertical line, or is warped or twisted, this condition of the pedestalwill not affect the movements of the journal box, which may positionitself either vertically or inwardly or outwardly with relation to thepedestal and on the journal as may be required, dependent upon theposition the pedestal may happen to have'upon the truck. By mounting thejournal box so that it is free from guiding engagement with thepedestal, the journal box is prevented from being forcibly shifted tothrow the load carried by the truck either on the back end of thejournal bearing or on the front end of the journal bearing, andconstricting or preventing the flow of oil between the journal bearingand the journal with the result of causing what is known as a hotjournalresulting in the damaging or burning off of the journal. Furthermore,"by doing. away with the use of positive guiding connections between thejournal box and pedestal, 'which'rub hard against the pedestal legs andpreventfree movement of the box between'the pedestal legs incident tothe action of the cushioning springs, wear and tear upon the journal boxand pedestal and hard or rough riding of the car and other binding andconstricting actions are effectually obviated. As a result, an easyriding truck or car is obtained, wear and tear and frequent replacementand repairs "reduced, and the journal box allowed to have free andunimpeded movements for easy riding actions regardless of anyirregularities in the form or condition of the pedestal or of thejournal being slightly tapered or otherwise irregular.

The sides of the journal box may be provided withwear plates 6 to reducewear andtear thereon and to provide easy contact between the journal boxand the wear plates G'and, if desired, a stop' flange 6 may be providedon each side of the box at the rearfor engagement with the pedestal tolimit the-outward movement of the box. The journal box 5 may be of thetype shown in Figs. 2 and 3 in which the box is provided at top with afixed or integral wedge seat '7 for the journal bearing 8, disposedbetween the same and thejournal 9, with which seat or wedge and thejournal it may have an interlocking connection'to assist in holding thebox from inward or outward displacementon the journal and relative tothe pedestal and journal. 'The box is provided externally at its topwith side flanges v 10 and front and rearflang'es 11, arranged inparallel pairs and to form a pocket or socket for interlockingconnection with a depending or depressed part of the end 12 of theequalizer bearer 13. This end of the bearer seats on a rib 13' along thetop of the bearing block 15 between the flanges 11, therebyforming aninterlock between the journal box and thebearer, which alioning springs14, and the journal box and the" interlocking connection between thejournal bearing g and the seat of wedge 7 and the'journal 9, the journalbox is held from displacementwhile permitted to have automatic adjustingand floating movements, thus securing a highly efficient cushioningaction for easy riding and adjustment of the journal boxes with thejournals, Without binding restriction, to permit the wheels toaccommodate themselves to curves and irregularities in the track rails,and frictional wear and tear is reduced to theminimum, giving longerlife to the journal boxes and pedestals and obviating the expensivefrequent repairs and replacements now necessary incidental to the use ofpedestals and journal box mountings of ordinary construction. The pocketor socket formed by the fiangeslO and 11 may also serve to receive acushioning damper of rubber or other elastic material engaged by the endof the bearer l3 and forwardinga cushioning action for the movement ofthe bearer, while preventing objectional grinding noise and wear andtear due to direct contact of metal upon metal.

The journal box construction disclosed inFigs. 2 and 3 adapts the seator .wedge for the journal bearing to be cast with the roof of the box,thereby eliminating what is commonly known as the journal bearing key,commonly made use of to hold the journal bearing in place and which, as

wedge wearing fiat] My construction of the journal box avoids the extracost of the wedge and eliminates entirely the wear and tear on. top

. and on the inside of the roof of the box when the wedge is usedasa'separate piece.

I may," however, employ the construction of journal box shown in Figs. 4and 5, in which the integral wedge '7 is removed and a standard type ofA. R. A. wedge 7 used in its place, which wedge interlocks in a suitablemanner with the box and has aninterlocking connection with the journalbearing 8, which in turn has an inter-,

locking connection with the journal 9. 'While the construction ofjournal boxshown in Figs. 2 and 3 is simpler and less expensive, thatshown in Figs. 4 and 5 may be used with equal working efliciency. v r

The described construction of truck design including the floatingjournal box, arranged and mounted'as set forth, does away with the useof a multiplicity of parts, equal in number to about two hundred piecesper car,avoiding the purchasecost of such items, the'inspection 're-.

quirements, and the maintenance cost, and producing a truck containingless parts subject to damage or breakage and giving easier and quieterriding of the trucks under the car, and doing away largely also with thehazards incident to the use of trucks of ordinary constructioncontaining so many parts liable to cause derailments and otheraccidents.

In accordance with my invention, I also mount. the brake heads 16 on thebrake. beams 17, each mounted at its upper end on a. pivot bolt ormember 18 engaging inclined slots 19 in the fork plates 20' of forkedhangers carried by the truck frame, and on which bolt the brake head mayslide laterally whereby the brake beams and shoes are mounted to slidetoward and from the wheels in a path inclined tofthe horizontal, as 7well as to have pivotal movements to adapt the brake shoes to. adjustthemselves to the wheels in a braking action.- The arrangement is suchthat after application, and upon release of the brake mechanism, thebrakes will automatically by their weight or by the action of gravitymove away from the wheels due to the outward and downward inclination ofthe, slots 19.

brake applying and releasing actions, and to recede positively on abrake releasing action so as to prevent the undue wear and tear causedordinarily by continuance of engagement of; the brake shoes with thewheels after a brake releasing action. This construction also obviatesthe use of the ordinary brake hangers pins and wheels and causing trackand flange resistanceto travel and undue wear and tear upon such parts.

As shown particularly in Figs. 9, 10 and 11, the truck is provided witha center bearing plate 21 for coaction with a center bearing plate 22 onthe car, and said plate 21 is formed with an upstanding central circularbearing stud 23 and an annular channel 24 surrounding the same, whilethe plate 22 is provided with a depending annular bearing member or ring25 which surrounds the stud 23 and enters the annular channel 24,whereby the truck is mounted to swing upon the car. In order to preventdirect contact between the opposed surfaces of the channel 24 and ring25 an annular hard metal wear plate 26 is disposed between said surfacesin the channel. This ring plate acts as an effective distributor ofintroduced lubricant, and serves to better sustain the wear andtoprevent direct contact between the soft metal surfaces of the centerplates which are subject to friction and heating and are liable to bindor freeze under certain conditions. The hard metal wear plate 26prevents any binding or freezing due to such causes, so as to obviateaccidents due to ruptures or derailments when the truck is bound andprevented from having a free swinging action. The bottom wall of thechannel 24 and bottom surfaces of the ring 25 are provided with annularand radial lubricant distributing grooves. 27 and 28 which intersectvertical lubricant supply channels 29 in the plate, the channel in theplate 22 being connected with a lubricant feed pipe 30 supported bybrackets 31 on the top plate and car body and provided at its free endwith a reducer 32 and a suitable fitting 33 for application of alubricant pressure pump "whereby lubricant under proper pressure may besupplied from aside or from one end of the car to the center bearing tokeep the parts thereof properly lubricated, without the necessity oflifting the car off the truck, or the operator getting under the car tosupply the lubricant. provision of a center bearing with a wear platebetween the centering plates and a lubricant feed means of the characterdescribed, trucks may be kept well lubricated in a ready and easy mannerand prevented from freezing, so as to entirely eliminatev all liabilityof binding and freezing of the trucks.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the

By this" means the brake heads are mounted for free and I easy automaticadjustments to suit varying conditions of the brake rigging and wheelsin thevthe journal.

By 6. In a journal bearing for railway'cars, a truck 140 construction,mode of operation and advantages" of my invention will be readilyunderstood .without a further and extended description and suchconstruction and advantages appreciated by those versed in the art.While the structure disclosed is preferred, it'will; of-course, beunderstood that changes in the form, construction and arrangementandproportion of parts may be made, within the scope of theappended-claims, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any ofthe advantages of the invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim:

1. In a journal bearing for railway cars, a car truck having a pedestal,a journal box'mova'ble in; the pedestal and having its sides in spacedrelation to and free from guidingengagementwith the legsofthe'pedestalso as to adapt the box tohave a floating; movementbetween'said legs, and amember carried by'the truck and .verticallymovable with the 'box, said' member having an interlocking engagementwith the top of .the box to hold the box from inward or outwarddisplacement. 2. In a journal bearing for railway cars, a car truckhaving a pedestal, a journal box movable in the pedestal and having itssides in spaced relation to and free from guiding engagement with thelegs of the pedestalso as to adapt the box to have a floating movementbetween said legs, and

an equalizer bearer having an interlocking connection with the top ofthe box to hold the box from inward or outward displacement.

3. In a journal bearing for railway car trucks, a truck frame having apedestal, a journal box movable between the legs of the pedestal, saidbox having its sides spaced from and free from guiding engagement withsaid legs, and a springpressed bearer member carried by the truck andhaving an end portion overhanging the box and having an interlockingengagement with the top thereof for holding the box from inward oroutward displacement.

4. In a journal bearing for railway cars, a truck frame provided with, apedestal, a journal box movable between the legs of the pedestal, saidbox having its sides spaced from and free from guiding engagement withthe sides of the pedestal, and said box having in its top a seat socket,and an equalizer bearer having an end portion engaging in said socketand interlocking with the box to hold the same from inward or outwarddisplacement.

5. In a journal bearing for railway cars, a car truck having apedestal,a journal box movable between the legs of the pedestal and having itssides spaced from and free from guiding connecengaging the lockingelement of the boxto hold said box from inward or outward displacementon frame having a pedestal, a journal box movable between the legs ofthe pedestal and having its sides spaced from and free from positiveguiding engagement therewith, said box being provided at its top withpairs of longitudinal and trans notches and interlocking with saidsocket to hold 150 the box from inward or outward displacement on thejournal. i

".7. In a journal bearing for railway cars, a truck frame provided witha pedestal, a journal box movable in the pedestal and having its sidesspaced-from and free from positive guiding engagement with the pedestallegs, said box being provided at its top with an internal integral wedgefor the journal bearing and an external locking socket, and an equalizerbearer having an end portion engaging said socket to hold the boxagainst inward or outward displacement on the journal.

8. In a car truck, the combination with a car axle journal and a truckside plate having a pedestal, of an'axle box receiving the journal andoperatively disconnected from and mounted for floating movementindependent of andbetween the pedestal legs, said box and legs havingtheir opposed surfaces constructed and arranged for relativelyunobstructed freedom of motion to permit the box to position itself uponthe journal and to permit the box and pedestal each to have independentor conjoint vertical and lateral movements.

to hold the box from inward or outward displacement.

10. In a journal bearing for railway car trucks, a truck frame having apedestal, a journal box loosely mounted in the pedestal in normallyspaced relation to the pedestal legs, without restricted guidingconnections therebetween, so as to have free independent or conjointvertical and lateral movements between and with respect to each otherand the box to adjust itself to positions of the journal without regardto the pedestal, and an equalizer bearer engaging the box to hold thebox from inward or outward displacement.

JOHN J. TA'IUM.

